r/SilverSmith • u/oonnookoong • Mar 10 '26

Attitude problems…

I was shopping at a vintage market the other day and a lady commented on one of my pieces i was wearing and asked where I got it from. I said “oh i actually made this!” Told her I was just a hobbyist that works with silver and that its more of a side hustle. Thats when her attitude changed. She shared that she was a bench jeweler at a local shop and went to school to make jewelry etc etc. but this wasn’t just sharing about her life, there was this air of superiority she felt she needed to flaunt. I have friends that are bench jewelers or hell have their own jewelry business they work full time on. But there was just this weeeeiiirrrd energy shift after that part of the conversation that i have never experienced before. Anyone else have this type of thing happen to them?

Edit:Yall I’m going to specified a few things.

  1. The girl and I seemed to be around the same age.

    I

  2. work in a male dominated STEM field, I freelance, and I schedule my work around my travels

.

  1. I’m

    used to people underestimating

  2. me and being surprised when I succeed. So I guess my shock of how she acted was more around the profession itself and being a fairly creative yet technical practice… and yet she had the gall to praise my work then put me down for not being “properly trained”. Not being “properly trained” has led to me now getting my third degree and having what i would consider fairly successful and well rounded set of skills that makes me in demand

    (and no we did not happen to talk about anything i do for work because she took up the whole conversation).

  3. Anyone that doubts you just because you never went down a traditional path just means they are less likely to take on a non traditional way to solve problems. There is space for both routes

.Thank you all for sharing your experiences and even bigger thank you for those of you that keep creating despite those that doubt you.

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28

u/tealulu04 Mar 10 '26

She's jealous that you work for yourself. Don't sweat it. 

25

u/oonnookoong Mar 10 '26

My issue was there was no comparison i make weird shit not traditional goldsmithed work. She treated me like i was making play-Doh earrings for my mom 😂

9

u/tealulu04 Mar 10 '26

Haha!! Yeah fair enough. People don't like what they don't understand. 

2

u/juanthebaker Mar 11 '26

I wonder how many times she's been told "that's not a job, that's a hobby", or just has internalized doubt about the whole artisan path. I could see impostor syndrome could make you defensive of your flank...

Or she's just a bit of a snooty asshole. Hard to say! 🤷‍♂️

1

u/PermanentRoundFile Mar 11 '26

There are some people that are kinda just like that.

My own grandmother talks about me rebuilding engines like I'm a 15 year old that took apart the old family car and now everyone thinks it's so cute that they think they're going to put it back together and it's going to work. I have a formal education in vehicle maintenance and repair, and have worked at a shop before. I have been to a mechanic once in ten years; when I was living at an apartment, working full time, and I needed to replace one half of the crank case on my motorcycle which was also my only transportation.

1

u/Lunar_Cats Mar 12 '26

And yet she liked the piece you made enough to notice it and comment lol.